Meet the Robinsons Series: Pilot
by MidnightWillow516
Summary: Wilbur Robinson's adventures continue with the help of a strange new friend. Together, they travel the time line and protect Todayland from monsters, robots, and villains. In addition, they help each other with their problems and survive high school. But, can Wilbur help his new friend open her mind and her heart? (Recent changes have been applied)
1. New Girl

**I made some significant changes to make the series more interesting. I'll post the next episode soon enough.**

* * *

It's a beautiful sunny morning in the peaceful utopia of Todayland, as usual. The people who weren't walking independently would either ride the mini monorail or the transportation bubbles. Everyone is dressed like it's the fifties but with a sixties modern art design.

* * *

At the local high school, Todayland High, the building is being supported by an anti-gravity platform. Some of the students are hanging out in front of the building. The other students are inside, searching their lockers and roaming the halls. The girls talk endlessly about fashion, boys, and parties. The boys ogle the girls, play cards, and talk about "romantic" conquests (a term I use loosely). In the teacher's lounge, the teachers sip their coffee and they all plan to assign tests on the same day.

At the main entrance of the school, in walks everybody's favorite teen, the richest kid in the city, Wilbur Robinson. All the students watch him strut through the hall, rocking a shirt like one he wore two years ago, only with long sleeves and three narrow lightning bolts. He's also wearing torn denim jeans, aqua high tops, and black, fingerless gloves. Despite all these changes, he still has his family's signature cowlick. Wilbur decides to give his female admirers a wink and a few finger shots. This predictably makes them swoon and scream like horror movie victims. The boys approve of his style and popularity, but hold a slight jealousy towards him. While Wilbur tries to maintain a fair amount of integrity, he still enjoys the kind attention he gets. He eventually spots the three most popular people in school, who he often hangs out with. One is Calvin, who wears a newsboy cap and suspenders. Another is Jamal, who dresses like it's the seventies, right down to the outdated afro. Last is Morgan Ramirez, who has a pixie cut, a t-shirt, jeans, converse, and a varsity jacket. She's the student council president and captain of the Todayland Tasmanian Devils zapball team. She's also Wilbur's biggest admirer. They all greet and include Wilbur in their conversation. They talk about the new girl said to come this very day. Wilbur's not particularly fond of associating with this group of brain-dead jerks, but he figures hanging out with them is better than nothing.

"So," Calvin says, "anyone know what she looks like?"

"I heard she's from Albania or something," says Jamal.

"She probably stinks like bratwurst," says Morgan.

"Actually, I've heard European girls are fairly attractive," Wilbur comments.

"Well hopefully, she doesn't shift your attention away from me."

Morgan flirtatiously rests her elbow on Wilbur's shoulder, much to his discomfort. He wishes he could be surrounded by a better company, especially when he turns his head to see a group of vapid girls, giggling and gawking at him. While the other kids continue talking, he begins to think about the adventures he had when he was in middle school. He used to travel through time, meet history's most famous figures, fight monsters and robots, even meet his own father as a kid. But after his biggest mess up ever, his dad relocated both his time machines to Robinson Industries and installed the most advanced, heavily armed security known to man. Since then, Wilbur was forced to say goodbye to his adventures. Now his only challenge in life has been surviving the merciless social hierarchy of high school.

Wilbur keeps listening to his "associates" conversation about the new girl. This makes him think about the house that was built next door to his house last week, though "house" might be a stretch. It's more like a Victorian mansion. It's built with dark gray planks, making it look like it's been abandoned for years. Wilbur concludes that the new girl must be his new neighbor. He wonders how strange her family must be to live in a haunted-looking mansion.

 _At least the Robinsons won't be the only eccentric billionaires in town._

* * *

In the schoolyard, a random student sees someone come up the travel tube at the edge of the anti-gravity platform. When the person comes out of the tube, the student gasps in shock and disbelief. A few other students hear the gasp and wonder what caused it, only to see the person from the tube and become shocked themselves. Soon, everybody is staring at the person standing in front of the tube, not knowing what to think.

This person is a girl around their age, wearing black side split sleeves and an emerald ring necklace. Underneath the sleeves is an eggplant tube top. She also wears a black hip corset and red plaid skirt. Finally, she has clunky, laced up, mahogany boots that make her legs look like pencils. She has bob-cut hair, like most of the women in town and her lips are naturally black. Her nails are long and sharp, painted with black nail polish. She carries a messenger bag in the shape of a monster skull with a big nose ring. Despite all this, the most peculiar thing about her is her grim, expressionless face. She looks as though she's killed someone and anyone could be next. She takes her time walking towards the entrance, everyone just stares at her.

When she opens the door, the people inside become just as dumbfounded as those outside. She ignores them and walks through the hall. Eventually, the popular kids notice the girl and each of them is stupefied by her appearance and demeanor, except Wilbur. He's instead curious and intrigued. He looks past the dark makeup and punk outfit and sees the enchanting layer underneath. Her pitch black hair is silky with high volume and her alabaster skin is without flaw. She has a heart-shaped face, a small button nose, and dainty black lips. She has the tight, narrow body of a French model. What really fascinates Wilbur, though, is the girl's eyes. Not only are they bigger than any pair he's ever seen (tee hee), but they are a luminous shade of indigo. Never in his life has he seen eyes as inviting as hers.

 _'Wonder how she looks without that makeup._

Everyone finally snaps out of their shock when the bell rings, so they go on their way to class. However, Wilbur continues to gaze at the punk girl opening her locker while the popular kids stare at her in disapproval.

"That's the new girl," Jamal exclaims in disbelief?! "She looks like she did time in juvie."

"She is kinda hot, though," Calvin states.

"Yeah, if you like skunx," Morgan snarks.

The boys laugh in agreement. Wilbur doesn't appreciate them mocking the punk girl, but he pays them no heed. He continues to watch her open her locker from only five feet away. Obviously, she can hear the boys making fun of her, but doesn't seem to care. She keeps putting her stuff in her locker while people stare at her as they walk by. She puts away her stuff before shutting the locker door and walking to her first class.

"I'll give her a little pep talk," states Morgan. "Hey, new girl!"

The punk girl looks behind to face Morgan who walks up to her.

"Morgan Ramirez, captain of the zapball team. I can see you're still adjusting to the country, so I thought I'd give you the low-down of how things work around here."

The punk girl can clearly see Morgan trying hold in her repugnance with disingenuous friendliness. Morgan is a mixture of an alpha girl and a dumb jock. She's envied by girls and admired by boys. However, anyone who actually knows her knows that she harasses anyone considered a loser and she will ruin the life of anyone who crosses her. Lexi pulls a piece of paper out of her pocket and presents it to the punk girl.

"Here's a map of the cafeteria's social seating protocol," says Kimber. "For you, I recommend either the 'stick bugs' table or the 'basket cases' table."

The punk girl ignores Morgan's judgment and starts to walk away, leaving her to stand in place. Morgan's confused, but she runs to the punk girl and stops in front of her.

"But you do look like you have some potential for the "royals" table, where I sit. You just have to wipe that mud off your face and ditch the thrift store clothes."

"That won't be necessary," the punk girl says with a deadpan tone. "I only eat outside."

Morgan is surprised by the punk girl's response, but she keeps her cool.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," says Morgan arrogantly. "If you don't have lunch inside like everyone else, they'll think you're a pathetic loser."

"But they respect a girl with obvious gender issues, right," sharply asks the punk girl.

Morgan's so flabbergasted by that insult, she can hardly say a thing. From afar, Wilbur and his "possie" heard that comment and are now equally shocked, leaving their mouths wide open.

"What," Morgan finally says.

"I'm just saying," says the punk girl," you're clearly trying too hard to be one of the guys. Acting like you're allergic to skirts doesn't make you special. It just makes you pitiful."

Morgan and the boys' disbelief grows further still. Morgan clutches her map and lets her smile fall into a teeth-clenching scowl. The punk girl walks away again, without Morgan following her, but she suddenly stops.

"Maybe take this as a lesson."

Morgan turns her head to face the punk girl. The punk turns her head, too, so they can make eye contact.

"Don't insult others if you can't handle it yourself."

The punk girl walks away for the last time without looking back. The popular boys, including Wilbur, all laugh at Morgan's humiliation. Morgan tears apart her map and stares at the punk girl with the eyes of a rabid animal.

 _Consider her dead._

* * *

 **Wanna see what the new girl looks like? Check out my DeviantArt page, ddvamp180, and you can find her there. Feel free to give me positive a/o negative feedback, whether on the fic or the character.**


	2. CSI: Todayland

Wilbur and his classmates are sitting at their desks "listening" to the biology teacher, Mr. Hayashi, listing the day's agenda. He looks to the right and sees the punk girl sitting in the desk next to him, keeping her legs close together. She seems to be drawing something in a little black notebook while listening to music with a 90s headset. Wilbur thinks back to her confrontation with Morgan. He expects that Morgan will probably conduct a diabolical scheme to ruin the punk girl's life for that. Still, he's impressed she was able to stand up for herself and call Morgan out on her phony butch attitude.

"Now that that's out of the way," says Mr. Hayashi, "Would our new student like to introduce herself to us?"

When Hayashi points to the punk girl, she looks up to see everyone staring at her, waiting for an introduction. With a soft but annoyed sigh, she takes off her headset and introduces herself

"My name is Magena Mortale and I just moved here with my parents a week ago from Romania."

Wilbur's intrigued by her unique name, though he thinks it's weird that she's from Romania when she doesn't have an accent. Magena sits back down, puts her headset on, and continues drawing. The students and teacher all look at her with confusion.

"Is... there... anything else you wanna say about yourself," Hayashi awkwardly asks?

"If anyone cares, they can ask me themselves," Magena coldly responds while keeping her eyes on her book.

Everybody stares at her in surprised discomfort. They can all feel the biting chill of her words. Desperate to move on from the awkwardness, Hayashi continues with the lesson. For the majority of class, students whisper about Magena. The girls giggle mockingly at her "poor" fashion sense. The boys whisper inane jokes about her haggish attitude, excluding Wilbur, of course.

Although, he does stare at her in contemplation. He knew from the moment she walked into school, she was different from other girls. But, he wasn't expecting this. Wilbur spends a most of class observing Magena without her noticing. He watches her draw a picture of a hand bleeding from holding a thorny rose. He gazes at her pale, delicate beauty underneath her shadowy makeup and disinterested frown. At the same time, her unusual demeanor fuels his boundless curiosity. The entire time, over million questions flood his mind. Why would she draw something so dark? Why does she demonstrate such brutal behavior? Is she like this with her parents? What is she like when she's alone? What is she hiding?

* * *

Near the end of class, Hayashi announces that he'll assign students to a project partner and topic. He grabs a clipboard from his desk and starts assigning partners, starting with Wilbur.

"Wilbur," Hayashi announces, "your partner…"

Before he knows it, every girl in the room surrounds Wilbur's desk. Obviously, they're all hoping to have the "honor" of being his partner. He starts to get slightly terrified as they stare at him with over-excited smiles. They look like they're about to play Tug of War with his limbs.

"Will be…"

The fangirls lean in closer and closer to Wilbur, signaling him to sink further and further into his desk. He turns his head to see the only girl not giving hungry eyes is Magena. In facts, her eyes are closed because she's fallen asleep, seemingly drooling on her drawing book.

 _Better the book than me._

Hayashi's about to say the name of Wilbur's partner when he heard a shrill shrieking. Quickly, all the students hear the awful shrieking coming from outside. Everybody runs to the windows to see where the shrieking is coming from. The commotion wakes Magena up. Feeling drowsy, she wonders what the others are squabbling about. So, she goes to the window with everybody else. They can barely make out the source of the shrieking, but what they can make out is unbelievable. Magena squints her eyes to enhance her vision and becomes almost as baffled as her peers.

* * *

In the streets of Todayland, the ground is shaking, citizens are running in terror, flying cars are caught in a traffic jam, and the police have formed a blockage. All of this because of one thing… the city is being attacked by a giant monster.

The creature looks like a large fish, only much much worse. It's sixty feet tall and covered with a long coat of scraggly fur. It has freakishly large, glowing eyes. It doesn't have a tail fin, for some reason. But it makes up for that with six, enormous tentacles that are used to drag the beast around. Worst of all, the monster has countless, razor-sharp teeth the size of a lamp-post.

The police repeatedly shoot at the monster, but their ray guns seem to have no effect. The monster strikes back by swatting the police and their vehicles with its tentacles. It then releases a banshee-like roar, causing a random woman to let out a shrill scream herself.

* * *

At the high school, the teachers and students prepare for a lockdown. The principal announces through the loudspeaker for the students to stay calm while the situation is being sorted out. The students are panicking anyway. In biology class, the girls are in huddles, whimpering to each other. The boys try to keep their cool, but a few of them curls into balls and cry. Magena's sitting in a corner far away from everyone else, witnessing their pathetic display. She does figure that now's the perfect time to get out of school, using an ability she has that no one else does.

While nobody's looking, Magena concentrates to turn herself invisible. Then, she phases through the wall, which just happens to lead outside of the band. Now that she's escaped, she solves the problem at hand. She runs through the schoolyard and jumps off the edge of the anti-gravity school platform.

Meanwhile, Wilbur realizes too that with everyone so worked up, he can bust out undetected and do something about the monster. Mr. Hayashi is busy trying to calm down his students, so Wilbur takes the opportunity to sneakily open the window, climb out, and close it to leave little suspicion. After which, he runs to the middle of the schoolyard, takes off his backpack, pulls out a small mechanical object. and throws it on the ground. The object then transforms into a full-sized hover-board. Wilbur throws his bag back on, jumps onto the hover-board and flies away from the floating high school. As he flies away, he turns on his earpiece and calls his trusty robot friend.

* * *

At the Robinson manor, in the science lab, Carl is sitting at a desk, sound asleep with his cupped feet on the desk. Ever since the time machines were locked away for good, Wilbur hasn't bugged him as much or caused trouble with his "adventures." Thus, things have been pretty uneventful, or as uneventful as the Robinson house can be.

This makes it more surprising when Carl's woken up by his ringing antennae, driving him to fall off his desk chair. Still feeling drowsy, Carl groans at this unexpected phone call, but still presses his antennae to answer.

"Hello," moans Carl.

"Carl," exclaims Wilbur on the other end!"What took you so long to pick up?!"

The extreme volume hurts Carl's hearing sensors. The pain causes him to dig his finger into his ear cup.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me when you're in school," Carl whines. "It's the only time I get a moment..."

"Carl, it's an emergency! I need you to get my gear and meet me downtown yesterday."

"What exactly is the emergency?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, all you need to know is that Wilbur Robinson is back in action!"

Wilbur hangs up, leaving Carl with the orders he's been given. He hates having to be involved in Wilbur's crazy missions, especially when he gets blamed. Nevertheless, he gives a heavy sigh and goes off to fetch Wilbur's (or rather his father's) gadgets.

* * *

Back in town, Wilbur lands his hover-board on a building half a mile away from the rampage. He can hardly believe what he's looking at. He has an octopus for a butler and a pet t-rex, and even he finds the presence of the grotesque, fishy-looking monster unsettling. He watches the monster crush parked vehicles and smash gold buildings. Thankfully, nobody's gotten hurt... so far. Wilbur gets more and more impatient, wishing he could stop the creature and save everyone.

"Where are you, Carl," anxiously says Wilbur?!

Out of nowhere, a blue blur flies swiftly by Wilbur's left side. The force nearly making him fall off the building. He panics as he has trouble keeping balance on one foot and flailing his arms. He bends over backward and regains his balance. He sighs with relief but he's puzzled as to what that blue blur was. The raging monster lets out another ear-piercing roar, before hearing someone whistle.

The fish monster turns and sees that the whistle came from the blue blur. The blur is really a high school age-looking girl floating ten feet away from the creature. She has short blue hair and different colored eyes, one turquoise one violet. She's wearing a one piece, skin-tight, black jumpsuit with short sleeves and long gray platform boots. She's accessorizing with a dog spiked collar, long black fingerless gloves, and a brown belt. The girl levitates fifty feet in the air with her arms folded and giving the monster a serious glare.

"I don't like hurting animals no matter how deformed they are," she announces. "So either go away and bother some other town or I'll have to take forceful measures."

The gilled monster smacks the blue haired girl hard enough for her to fly through the air without will and ram into an office building behind her. The impact creates a large hole in the outer wall of the building, where dust accumulates and rubble falls. The monster approaches the building and peeks a large, glowing eye through the hole to see where the blued haired girl landed.

Desks are broken and flipped over, cubicle walls are a messily spread everywhere, and a few water coolers have spilled. The monster spots the girl lying unconscious next to two halves of a copy machine. The tentacled monster grabs her by the leg and drags her across the room and out of the hole. It brings the girl, hanging upside down, closer to its eye to see if she's still alive. After a few more seconds of playing dead, the girl finally opens her eyes and gives a threatening scowl.

"Option two it is."

The girl kicks the enormous sea monster in the eye. The creature feels so much pain that it releases the girl's leg, setting her free. This leaves opportunity for her to throw a powerful right hook at the monster's fanged jaw, which she does. The monster tries to strike back with its tentacles, but the girl dodges every attack. After dodging, she retracts her sharp black nails and scratches nearly every inch of the furry fish like an angry cat. Enraged, the monster finally grabs the sapphire haired girl. She struggles to get out of the monster's grip as it brings her further and further to its massive gaping mouth, attempting to eat her. The beast's sword-like fangs and sewer breath urges the girl to escape even more. But, she gets an idea. She turns herself intangible and phases away from the tentacle. Since she's also invisible, the monster looks around, confused as to where its potential food has gone. One of the creature's tentacles moves up against its will and somehow lifts its entire mammoth body one hundred feet above the ground. The girl turns visible to reveal that she's holding the tentacle and impossibly lifting the monster.

"Let's make you into a flying fish," she softly threatens.

The girl swings the monster around in circles until she lets go, sending it flying. The toothy creature soars a mile in the air before landing face down in a large grassy area. The girl flies, following the monster's trail so they can continue their battle. The girl and the monster fight from one part of town to another, trying to outmatch each other. Citizens and officers watch the event in, steering clear of the wreckage, in anticipation of the flying girl's victory.

From a distance, a dumbfounded Wilbur Robinson is watching the fight scene, astonished at what he's witnessing. His eyes and mouth are as open as humanly possible. He's never seen anything like this girl right in front of him. He's only seen her kind of skills and abilities in comic books and video games. The way this girl punches, kicks, flips, and dodges every attack puts Wilbur in a hypnotic daze. He can't help but stare amorously at the ferocious flying female. It feels as if every swift movement and sweep of her midnight hair is happening in slow motion. But at the same time, Wilbur thinks there's something seems familiar about the girl. Her bob cut, heart-shaped face, and ceramic skin remind him of someone, but he can't put his finger on it.

The blue haired girl grows tired of the fight and flies high enough get away from the fishy monster's reach. She stops think of a way to stop the monster for good. She starts by looking at every inch of the creature, searching for a weakness. When the fish releases another earth-shaking shriek, it gives her an idea. She flies back down toward the monster, avoids the swatting tentacles, grabs one of them, retracts her fangs, and bites it. The monster gives the loudest painful scream. The blue haired girl wastes no time and zips in front of the large monstrous mouth. She cups her hands together and generates a blue orb-shaped mass of energy. She then releases the energy from her hands, shooting it into the beast's mouth. It swallows the energy orb and in the blink of an eye, it explodes from the inside.

Blue, gooey remains of the former fish splatter everywhere, hitting buildings, parked cars, and hundreds of bystanders, including Wilbur. While everybody wipes the goo off of themselves, the blue haired girl flies down and lands on the ground. She analyzes her surroundings and thinks there's something familiar about the goo. She walks over to the nearest building and scoops a patch of blue goo with her gloved hand. Immediately, the goo completely absorbs into her uncovered fingers. She realizes what the goo is and how the tentacled monster came to be. With the new knowledge, she walks back to the middle of the road. She kneels down with both knees on the ground, takes off her fingerless gloves, and reaches her hand out. Much to everyone's surprise, the goo covering them quickly slithers off of them, as does the goo on the buildings and cars. All the goo collects into one big pile and slithers towards the blue haired girl as if she's calling it to her. The girl lets all the goo absorb into her hands.

"Freeze"!

As the girl stands up and puts her gloves back on, the police run up and surround her. Even when they aim their ray guns at her, she keeps her composure. Two of the cops make way for a sixty-year-old Indian man wearing a bulky black helmet with a silver badge on it and a standard (futuristic) police uniform. He has a square jaw, dark bushy brows, and a Chaplin mustache. He walks up to the blue haired girl, giving her the evil eye.

"Chief Punjab, TPD," sternly says the Indian man. "Care to explain what all that goop was and why that big fish thing was stuffed with it?"

"I would," the blue-haired girl responds in a deadpan tone, "but it's a trade secret."

"I don't like being kept in the dark. Why don't you come with us downtown so we can ask you some questions?"

"No thanks."

Without another word, the girl turns invisible, much to the surprise of Chief Punjab and the aiming officers.

"Fan out," Punjab furiously commands the officers! "Search every inch of the city for any blue-haired, crazy-eyed, teenagers!"

Most officers start searching the area for a thorough search while others jump into their cars and fly off to over more ground. A few officers urge bystanders to move along.

"I want that smart-mouthed freak turned into the CIA and studied!"

Punjab storms off to his parked car in a huff. He then flies off and the remaining police go in their own cars and join the search. Then enters Wilbur on his hoverboard, hovering thirty feet in the air. When he lands, Carl runs to him, carrying the gadgets he was told to bring. He stops to catch his breath and exhaustedly says

"Hey, buddy. Sorry, I took so long. Would've gotten here sooner, but traffic was crazy and I think some loud shrieking messed with my homing device. Anyway, here… you…"

Before Carl can present Wilbur with his gear, he looks at the damage and wreckage. Piles of rubble, squashed cars, and an ambulance aiding people with shellshock. While the gears turn in Carl's head (literally), Wilbur stands silently stands on his board, ruminating on what just happened. He is still amazed at the blue-haired girl's wits and skills. He only wishes he knew who she was.

"What'd I miss," asks a stupefied Carl?

"... I'm not so sure myself," Wilbur responds. "I'd better fly back to school before they lift the lockdown. You can head back home."

Wilbur takes off and makes his way to the school, leaving Carl to twitch his virtual eye, frustrated and enraged.

"... So I came all the way out here and brought you all this junk for nothing!?"

Obviously not getting an answer, Carl starts walking back home and mumbling angrily. In the meantime, Wilbur takes his sweet his time flying back to school, since he doesn't exactly want to go back. After ten minutes of flying through the city, past building after building, he looks up and sees the blue-haired girl standing on the R of Robinson Industries. He flies towards her in an attempt to confront her, but he stops when he sees a bright blue light surrounding her. The light flashes, forcing Wilbur to shield his eyes. When the light disappears, he looks back and is flabbergasted when instead of a blue-haired girl with weird eyes in a skin-tight jumpsuit, he sees…

 _Magena!_

After her transformation, Magena jumps off the R and freefalls from the building. She keeps falling and falling without any reaction. She then lands gracefully on her feet, runs away faster than a falling space shuttle, and takes the travel tube to the school platform.

* * *

When she reaches the platform, she walks out of the tube and sees all the students are outside the building. They worry and fuss over the emergency that occurred. At the school entrance, Principal Cohan, an overweight, bald, black man in a suit, is accompanied by most of the school staff. He turns on his megaphone and makes an announcement.

"Attention everyone, the crisis is over. You can all go home. See you all tomorrow."

The students are relieved. The teachers instruct the students to form a straight line to the travel tube. Before Magena can join them, someone grabs her arm from behind and pulls her away. She looks behind and sees it's Wilbur grabbing her. He pulls her all the way to the edge of the schoolyard for a bit of privacy.

"You have some explaining to do," he says sternly.

Magena's not afraid of him in the least, but she is irritated. She never noticed him until now, let alone talked to him, so she doesn't know what this confrontation is about. She ignores his threat and snatches her arm away.

"What are you talking about," she asks? "Also, who are you?"

"Special Agent Wilbur Robinson of the TCTF," replies Wilbur.

He quickly presents his "badge" to Magena in order to keep her from actually seeing it.

"Beg pardon?"

"Time Continuum Task Force."

Wilbur starts walking around Magena in circles with his arms behind his back. He suddenly turns into an episode of Blue Bloods.

"I have just witnessed some suspicious activity in the area, particularly with the monster that just exploded downtown. And evidence leads me to believe that you are responsible for the attack."

While Wilbur circles his prime suspect like a vulture waiting for his meal to croak, Magena can only think about how full of hot air he is. His accusations may be right, but his lack of subtlety makes her doubt his credibility as an interrogator.

 _And I thought that chief was a blowhard._

"What does this have to do with the 'time continuum,'" she skeptically asks?

"I'll ask the questions, miss," Wilbur retorts!"

Magena swats Wilbur's finger away from her face.

"You actually expect me to buy this," she asks, almost insulted? "A government intelligence service wouldn't hire a teenager to be an agent, let alone put him in charge of an investigation. Especially if he's the son of one of the most important people in the world. Also, your "badge" is a piece of cardboard cut out from a shoe box."

Wilbur looks at the cardboard in his hand that says "Quick Kicks." He ponders how she could have seen what it was. The last time he used his persona, he wasn't exposed until three hours after he introduced himself. It only took this girl less than thirty seconds to figure him out. He's impressed by her great intelligence but disappointed that he's been caught so fast.

"I really need to get a 'real' fake badge," he says, feeling defeated.

Magena raises an eyebrow as if to say: That sentence makes sense (sarcastically). Wilbur can feel her mocking him and becomes irked immediately.

"Don't play games with me. I know you're the blue-haired girl fought that hairy... fish... tentacle.. thing. And its goop seems to come from you."

"Even if I am and it did, what do you plan to do about it?"

"I …"

"Wilbur. Magena. There you are."

Wilbur is interrupted when Mr. Hayashi walks up to him and Magena.

"Before you go, I'm assigning you two as project partners."

"WHAT" the two shout in unison!

The girls in line overhear Hayashi. They all bawl and cry their eyes out over not getting to be Wilbur's partner. For some reason, Hayashi ignores the commotion and hands Wilbur and Magena the guidelines for their project.

"The project's due on Thursday. I'm sure you'll work great together."

The two teens look at each other from the corners of their eyes. Neither of them knows what to think of this pair up. Wilbur has mixed feelings. On one hand, Magena's cynical, loner attitude will probably make her difficult to work with and the new friction between them won't help. On the other hand, this project could give him a chance to find out more about her and get her to admit her actions. Magena has less than pleasant expectations. She's never worked with anyone before and she prefers to be alone. On top of that, he seems very determined to find out where her powers come from. The last thing she wants is for anyone to find out who... and what she is.


	3. Hello Neighbor

Magena's been followed by Wilbur from school to the mini monorail. Onboard, he sits next to her, naturally without her permission. He spends the whole ride fiercely staring at her as if he's warning her to stay out of trouble (like he wouldn't know anything about that). She mostly manages to ignore him by focusing on her music. On the last stop, at the edge of town, Magena gets off and Wilbur follows. Half an hour later, they walk across the nicely cut grassland with Wilbur four feet behind Magena. She can still feel him staring at her intensely. She never reacts to this, but she is extremely annoyed. She thinks about speeding away, but that would prove him right and she would not give him that satisfaction.

A lot of suspicious thoughts run through Wilbur's head. Secretly, he admires Magena's powers, skills, and sharp wits. But, when the fish monster exploded, she seemed to have known what it's blue goop was and she absorbed it all as if it belonged to her. He has a theory that she may have created the monster herself, somehow, so she could save the day and soak up the glory and attention. Though, he doesn't have evidence to prove that... yet. Therefore, he plans to do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this mystery.

They finally reach the only two buildings outside of the city: the Robinson and Mortale manors. Magena walks to her doors. She looks to the side and turns her head slightly to see Wilbur still behind her, staring. She finds it both obnoxious and creepy.

"How long do you plan to stalk me," she grumpily asks while she takes off her headset?

"As long as it takes 'til I get an explanation," Wilbur firmly responds. He quickly shifts from serious to cocky. "And I'm pretty determined to get it, so you won't be left alone anytime soon."

"I beg to differ," retorts Magena.

She reaches her hand to the side of the door, lifts open a little slide door and presses a red button. A loud alarm goes off from the castle. Wilbur starts to worry a little about what that alarm means and what it will do. Suddenly, he hears something coming from the right. He looks that way and sees a drawbridge on a two-story cobblestone building slowly come down. Once down, Wilbur can only see pure darkness within the opening. Until a pair of large red eyes emerges. This turns from worried to scared. Out of nowhere, two more pairs of red-eye open on each side of the original. Now Wilbur's mostly terrified and a little confused.

"Uh… question," he nervously asks Magena? "What's that?"

All six eyes start to come closer. As they do, the ground starts to shake. Out of the shadow comes two large paws, followed by a mass of fur, ultimately revealing...

"Our three-headed chupacabra," she answers with a straight face.

The monstrosity looks like Cerberus spliced with a diseased rat. Its fur looks like tar. It has sharp quills on it's back, wrinkled pink snouts, and snake-like fangs. The red glowing eyes are all locked on a petrified Wilbur.

"One head is trained to open rib cages," Magena comments. "The other two eat vital organs."

The three-headed dog-rat stomps towards Wilbur. When it stops, the heads lean into Wilbur's tiny (by comparison) head.

"Pablo, Manolo, Joaquin," snarks Magena, "meet my biology partner, Wilbur."

The heads start to growl through their big pointy teeth. Through those teeth seethes through eight cups worth of drool each. Wilbur watches that for a few seconds, looks back at the heads, gives them a large nervous grin, and dashes away. He starts sprinting his way home away from the dog-rat. His panicking brings Magena a sadistic smirk on her face as she gives her guard monster a command.

"... Fetch."

The giant animal sprints after its prey. Wilbur looks behind and sees the abomination race towards him. He looks back ahead and when he sees his house from a hundred feet away, he knows he won't make it on foot. So, he takes out his hoverboard from his backpack and hops on to fly away. He quickly reaches the front steps, he desperately yanks open and slams the door behind him. Outside, Spike and Dimitri's heads pop out of their pots. They're both confused as to what just happened.

"What's his rush," Dimitri asks his brother?

"I dunno," Spike responds.

When they turn their heads, they see the colossal dog-rat still running towards the house. They scream in unison and dive back into their pots. Before the chupacabra could crash into the door, Magena decides to bring it back.

"Pablo, Manolo, Joaquin! Here boys!"

The beast halts and runs back to Magena. When it does, Magena rubs all three of its heads affectionately.

"Good job," she says sweetly. "You three are such good boys. Yes, you are."

This makes the dog-rat happy and wags its very long tail. Magena reaches into one of the pockets of her jacket and pulls out three dog biscuits. The chupacabra gets excited and pants in anticipation. Magena throws them half as hard as she could, letting them fly sixty feet in the air. The chupacabra runs after them. Once it finally catches up it jumps in the air and one biscuit is eaten by each head. Magena whistles to her guard monster, signaling it to come back. She points to the cobblestone dog house, letting the dog-rat to go back inside. It obeys, walks back to the building, and the drawbridge closes behind it. Magena smiles with pride for her beast.

* * *

Little does she know she's still being watched from afar. The incredibly nosey Wilbur Robinson is peeking out of the large window from the side. He watches her walk into her house and close the door behind her. He finally looks away and stops trying to hide. This day seems to get weirder and weirder for him. First, he met a very pretty girl who turned out to be a secluded witch. Then, he watched her turn into an unstoppable powerhouse and fight a giant hairy fish. And now, he's almost been eaten by her three-headed crime against nature.

 _What is she?!_

"Wilbur!"

He hears his mother, Franny, worriedly say his name. He sees her on top the main stairway looking like a nervous wreck. She rushes down the stairs, runs to her son and gives him the most lethal hug a mother can give.

"Oh, thank goodness you're safe."

She then gives Wilbur a million kisses on the cheek, which naturally embarrasses him. When get realizes what she just said, he starts to get on edge himself.

"Uh… you saw that?"

"Of course I did. We all did. It was all over the news. The city was attacked by some kind of... I don't even know what! We were so worried you get hurt."

His mother's explanation makes him feel relieved.

"WILBUR!"

Soon, the rest of the Robinsons household charges down the stairs and stampedes towards Wilbur. Great aunt Billie, cousin Tallulah, and Grandma Lucille join Franny in coddling the teenage boy, much to his annoyance. His uncles, Art and Gaston, check his body for bruises and cuts. Eventually, everyone practically suffocates Wilbur with their concern. Outside the worry circle, Carl decides to intervene and uses his Extendo arms to reach in, grabs Wilbur by his arms, and pulls him out of the crowd and to his side.

"Alright people, that's enough," Carl states. "Let's give the kid some space."

"Thanks, Carl," Wilbur gratitudes.

"Wilbur!"

 _Not again._

Everyone looks to the stairway and sees the man of the house, Cornelius Robinson, hurry down the stairs and joins the "Worry Wards Club" (somebody slap me on the wrist). He places his hands on his son's shoulders and looks him in the eye with immense stress."

"Are you alright," Cornelius quickly asks?! "I tried to reach your school to come get you, but the roads were blocked and all I could do was come back here and wait…"

"Dad, I'm fine, okay," Wilbur interrupts?

Wilbur backs away from his father's grip. He thinks about gloating how the monster attack never phased him. Before he has a chance to condescend his family, he looks around the room and starts to see the terrified looks on everyone's faces. He begins to feel guilty for making his family worry so much and treating it like it was nothing.

"Guys, I really am okay. The problem kinda solved itself."

With that, the rest of the Robinson finally let themselves relax.

"Well, if you are fine," says Cornelius, "then we should get going."

"Going where" confusingly asks Wilbur?

"We're going to visit our new neighbors," Franny cheerfully answers.

"We're gonna be their welcome wagon," Carl adds on.

"I even baked my 'Three Pies Baked into One Cake" for the occasion," Lucille proudly states.

While everyone else goes off to prepare, Wilbur thinks this is a bad idea. Magena probably won't appreciate the unexpected company, especially his. Even if her parents invite the family in, she'll just give him kill looks all night. Although, he does consider that this is the perfect opportunity figure out her secret. She can't object to him coming into her home if he and his family are being neighborly. All he has to do is carefully sneak around the castle and look for anything that would explain her amazing powers. No force on Earth is strong enough to get in the way of Wilbur Robinson's nosiness.

* * *

In the tallest tower of the dark Mortale manor, Magena's in her dimly lit room, making a zine. Her room is entirely made of wood apart from the red rug floor. The room has eight walls, three of which have windows, and the pyramid ceiling is supported by wooden beams. Underneath the center of the beams is a Victorian bowl chandelier. Each wall is decorated with several alternative band posters. On one side of the room is a plush mattress with seven pillows and a black comforter. On the other side is a brown vintage desk. Sitting beside the desk is an antique mahogany closet. Between the mattress and desk, there's a small dresser and an antique trunk. The trunk has a 90's record player on top of it playing The Ramones. Across the room, a finely crafted fireplace has a large spider web inside. In that web resides Magena's pet jumping spider, Brody. Next to an old-fashioned door stands Magena's most prized possession, her electric guitar. The body of the guitar is custom designed to look like a mutated spider.

Magena is cutting pictures and text from a punk magazine and a libertarian newspaper and gluing them on a paper folded like a book. She also adds her own creepy drawings on the sides. As she finishes her zine, she hears the doorbell rings. She takes a heavy, irritated breath. She's not looking forward to going downstairs all the way to the main hall, but she goes anyway. She speeds out the door, down the spiral stairs, past the hallway, and down the main hall stairs. The doorbell rings a second time. She finally makes it to the large front doors, so she grabs and pulls one of the doorknobs and when the door fully opens…

"WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD!"

Magena's ears practically go deaf. The wind that came from the shouting made her short black hair look like she was skydiving. When she opens her eyes, she is even more surprised to see the Robinson family at her door, smiling almost creepily at her. Magena finds it strange that some of them have the same hairstyle.

"... Are you all in a cult," asks Magena?

They all joyfully laugh at her comment. Cornelius steps forth to Magena to speak for the family.

"Sorry about the sudden greetings," he says. "We tend to get carried away."

Franny steps forth next to her husband. She points at Magena's new projectile hair.

"That's a good look for you, by the way," she says, gleefully. "Anyway, we are your new neighbors, the Robinsons. We wanted to come by and say…"

"WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD!"

The Robinsons all shout again and the "greeting wind" blows Magena's hair once more, but this time she fixes it.

"Yeah, I got that," she remarks, annoyed.

"So, is your family home," Cornelius asks?

"Yes, but they're busy," Magena quickly responds, closing the door.

Before she can rudely slam the door on the Robinsons, a foot wearing an aqua sneaker stops the door. Magena opens the door slightly just to see who the foot belongs to. She's shocked to see it's Wilbur, giving the smuggest smile he can.

"Hey," he says, "is that any way to treat your welcome wagon?"

Magena starts to get enraged by Wilbur's cockiness, but she manages to hold it back, mostly.

"We don't have time for a welcome wagon right now," she says, trying to push the door closed, but Wilbur pushes back.

"Oh come now," says Uncle Art. "Surely your family is not too busy to meet the neighbors."

Wilbur gives Magena an enormous smirk, signaling his agreement with his uncle. His mockery makes Magena struggle to hold back her fury to the point where she actually growls.

"Of course we're not."

Everyone at the door looks to see who said that. Walking down the main hall is a tall, scrawny, yet handsome young man. His black hair is styled in a cowlick like Wilbur, only not as curled. He also has a neatly groomed pencil beard. He wears a white collared shirt with folded sleeves, bell bottom jeans supported by a belt, and brown dress shoes. He walks up beside Magena with a confident smile. The Robinson women giggle in admiration of the young man's boyish good looks.

"You must be Magena's brother," Cornelius assumes.

"Ha, I wish," the young man jokes. "I'm actually her dad."

All the Robinsons are surprised to hear this. The young man barely looks older than his daughter.

"Why don't you all come in," he suggests?

The Robinsons all accept and walk right in. Needless to say, this increases the unfathomable displeasure Magena's experiencing and Wilbur's "superior" attitude isn't helping. She finally closes the door when everyone's inside. Now everyone is gathered in the middle of the main hall.

"Wait, I know you," Franny says to the young man. "You're Billy Joe Cobra!"

Billy Joe Cobra was an A-list pop star almost thirty years ago. He was the most famous musician of his time. He was the object of every teenage girls' affections and the envy of fellow Hollywood stars.

"Guilty," he proudly confirms. "But, now I go by Baruch Mortale."

"It is so amazing to meet you," excitedly says, Franny! "I was such a big fan as a girl."

"Well, if it takes traveling across the ocean to meet a fan, it's worth it."

Baruch kisses Franny's hand like a suave French man. Franny blushes like mad, which slightly irritates her husband. However, Franny remembers something that confuses her.

"But, it's funny," she says. "I remember years ago on the news they said you were de…"

"Ahem," he interrupts. "I'm sorry, but is your 'wife' home?"

"Oh sure," Baruch responds. "Hey, Vivi! We got company!"

Suddenly, high-heeled footsteps echo through the halls. A female figure steadily walks down the stairs. Once at the bottom, the figure slowly walks down the hall like a phantom. When she stops near the crowd, she comes out of the shadows to reveal herself to be a teenage-looking girl. This girl is particularly strange. She has her silky black hair in a tight bun with some hair in the front left a little loose. She wears a simple black Victorian mourning dress. The strangest thing is she looks almost exactly like Magena, right down to the emotionless facial expression. The only minor differences are her face is rounder, her skin is somehow even paler, and her eyes are violet. She stands before everyone with her back straight, her chin tilted forward like a vulture, and her hands folded like a debutant.

"Welcome everyone to our estate," the girl says, dryly. "I am Avianna Mortale. A pleasure to meet you."

"May we just call you Via," Aunt Billie asks?"

"Most people do, so yes," Avianna answers.

Via starts shaking hands with every Robinson. She's somewhat puzzled when she shakes Aunt Petunia's tiny wooden hand. She gets even more perplexed when shaking Carl's hand since she's never seen a robot before. When she shakes Lucille's hand, she presents Via with her cake.

"I brought you my famous Three Pies Baked into One Cake," Lucille says pleasantly. " 'Hope you'll like it."

"Oh, thank you very much," says Ria, appreciative but still monotone. "Magena, could you take this to the kitchen?"

Magena begrudgingly takes the pie-cake from her mother's hands and goes on her way to the kitchen.

"This is a pretty snazzy home you have," says Uncle Gaston.

"Thanks," responds Baruch. "Hey, how 'bout we give you a grand tour?"

Magena's so flabbergasted she stops before taking another step. She cannot believe her father would be so reckless. Roaming around the house could risk these people, particularly Wilbur, figuring out the Mortales' secret.

"Baruch, are you sure that's wise," Via warns with her arms folded? "We have much work to do in the office."

"Ah, we can put that on hold 'fer now," Baruch assures, overconfident. "How often do we have guests?"

"...You just want an excuse to show off your trophy room, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. Everybody follow us! We'll start with the morning room"

Baruch puts his arm around his wife's waist and with a defeated sigh, she reverts back to debutant-mode and walks with him. All the Robinsons follow the Mortale couple down the hall. But, Wilbur sees Magena walk to the kitchen holding the pie-cake. He decides to take advantage of the opportunity and follow her. Carl looks behind and watches his teenage buddy creepily follow the girl he barely knows in her own home.

 _This can only end well._

* * *

 **I do not own Billy Joe Cobra/Baruch Cohen nor the cartoon "Dude That's My Ghost" and this is not a crossover.**


	4. The Truth

After Magena puts away the pie-cake in the kitchen, she pushes the kitchen doors open, walks around the main stairway, and climbs out up the stairs. Unknowingly to her, she's being followed by a snooping Wilbur Robinson. He sneakily walks up against the wall and waits for Magena to go on ahead, far enough so she doesn't see him but not too far that he loses her. As she walks through the long furnished hallway, Wilbur hides behind every column, statue, and end table until he knows it's safe to move forward. Magena turns a corner and when Wilbur follows, there's nobody there. Obviously, he's confused and wonders if she either turned invisible or phased through the walls. Wilbur turns back around and before he can even blink, a pale feminine fist knocks his lights out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Baruch and Via guide the Robinsons through their abode. So far, the couple's shown their guests the drawing room, the dining room, a few of the bedrooms, the office, the music room, and the indoor greenhouse. Baruch was especially eager to show off the glorious trophy room, where he keeps his gold records, music awards, prized instruments, and dozens of portraits of himself.

Every family member marvels at the decor of the mansion. Although, Carl seems to be the only one who notices the sinister qualities of this place. There's hardly any electricity or lighting. Most of the windows are covered by red velvet curtains and the only real source of light are the candles hanging on the walls. All the Victorian furniture and decor is darkly colored. The greenhouse mostly inhabited carnivorous plants. There are portraits of bizarre-looking family members. They all have impossibly pale skin, strangely colored eyes, and pointy ears. They're all attractive people, but they look very serious. Carl swears he's in an episode of the Addams Family.

* * *

In the meantime, Wilbur starts to wake up. When he opens his eyes, he finds himself on a mattress in what looks like Magena's room. He still feels woozy from the punch, but he comes to his senses when he sees Magena sitting on the other side of the mattress. She has her arms and legs folded and she looks at Wilbur with great disapproval.

"You could at least buy me dinner first," he jokes.

Magena grabs Wilbur's ankles and throws him across the room, where he hits his head on the door. He rubs the area of his head that feels the most pain.

"Yeah, I had that coming," he groans.

Magena gets up, walks a little towards Wilbur, and puts her hands on her hips.

"You can't go ten minutes without invading my privacy, can you," Magena irritatedly asks?

"How'd you know I was there?"

"I figured you'd be too thickheaded to give up, so I braced myself for the inevitable. Plus, I can smell your hair gel a mile away."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Magena rolls her eyes at that retort.

* * *

All the adults come back to the morning room to relax. Baruch sits on a vintage coach and the Robinsons share chairs and other coaches. Via brings her guests a silver tray holding cups of coffee. After she puts the tray on the coffee table, she sits next to her husband and everyone grabs a cup.

"I still can't believe you two have a teenage daughter," Franny states. "You look like teenagers yourselves."

"Well, I always say thirty is the new eighteen," Baruch boasts.

"And a facial now and then doesn't hurt," Via jokingly adds on.

"Oh tell me about it," Tallulah agrees. "Horse oil always does the trick."

"So, what do you do to afford a place like this," asks Grandpa Bud, sipping his tea?

"Actually, my husband and I are the duke and duchess of Romania."

The Robinsons spit out their tea in disbelief. Baruch and Via lift up their legs to avoid the splash zone. Now the floor and the coffee table is covered with backwash tea.

"Don't worry, says Carly, "I've got it."

Carl's chest compartment automatically opens and an extra arm pops out, holding an electric mop. He starts cleaning up the backwash mess.

"Um, thank you," Via thanks awkwardly.

"You mean to tell us your family's royalty," Lazlo exclaims?!

"Technically, we're nobles," Via corrects, "but we are members of the monarchy."

"If you're Romanian monarchs," says Cornelius, "what are you doing in America?"

"We decided to do our work away from home," answers Baruch.

'Why's that," asks Fritz?

Via and Baruch look at each other, wondering if they should tell them. Their reason for moving is hard to even think about. To help, they tightly hold each other's hands and Ria decides to explain while Baruch looks down and sits silently.

"We did it for our daughter, Magena," she says softly.

Via tells her guests how Magena has trouble making friends. Growing up, she's always been interested in anything scary, gruesome, or chaotic. This is actually a trait everyone in the Mortale family has. Magena spent most of her time reading cult novels, feeding carnivorous plants, and talking to spiders. Because of this, other children would either shut her out or make fun of her. Even fellow monarchs and socialites would call her cruel names; monster, freak, abomination, demon. At thirteen, Magena finally snapped and picked a fight with everyone in school, which got her expelled. For the next two years, she stayed home away from school and became a bitter, angry shut-in. Via and Baruch agreed that this wasn't good for her, especially since she would someday be the Duchess of Romania. They decided the best course of action would be to move somewhere more peaceful and friendly, so she could make friends easier. And Todayland seemed like the best possible option.

"I'm very sorry," says Cornelius. "I can't imagine hard that must have been for her."

"Well, it's in the past," Via sighs. "Now, the two of us will make sure Magena knows that we are here for her."

She and Baruch turn to look at each other and smile in blissful agreement.

* * *

Wilbur realizes that the 007 approach isn't working, so he needs to start being serious.

"Okay look," he says, "we both know I saw you go Superman on that fish. Just tell me who you really are"

Magena looks and walks away from Wilbur then stands in place with her arms folded.

"You really don't get it" she says. "You're playing with fire here. If I tell you about me, we'll both get burned."

"Why?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Well, I'm not quitting until I get the truth. After everything I've been through today, I'm not giving up now."

Magena takes a moment to think about this. She's been told all her life not give away her secret. Everyone in Transylvania knows not to tell their secret to an outsider. The consequences of giving away their identities are too great to ignore. But this boy refuses to take a hint. Though, he does have a point. If he's willing to follow her home, get chased by a three-headed beast, socked in the jaw, and flung into a wall just to get an answer, there's no stopping him.

"You're really not leaving me alone until I tell you," Magena softly asks?

Wilbur answers by shaking his head. Magena takes a heavy breath through her nose and makes her decision.

"...Fine."

Wilbur goes to pull out the chair from the vanity and sits down. Both he and Magena mentally ready themselves for the big reveal. Finally, she comes out.

"I'm… a ghost-vampire hybrid."

"... What?"

"I'm half ghost and half vampire."

Wilbur cannot believe what he just heard. Literally, it sounds completely ridiculous.

"Give me a break," he laughs while standing up.

"You wanted an explanation and I'm giving it to you," says Magena, almost insulted.

"How can you expect me to believe something that ludicrous?!"

"You saw me fly through the air and take down a monster single-handedly! There's no reason for you not to believe me!"

"I can only stretch my suspension of disbelief so far."

Magena is frustrated, but she can understand his point of view. Believing in the supernatural is hard for any human, even one as weird as him. So, she decides to provide him with proof. She goes to the dresser, opens one of drawers, takes out a dragon patch, closes the drawer, and walks to Wilbur to present him the patch.

"Here," she says.

"What's that for," asks Wilbur?

"It belongs to my dad. Put it in your pocket."

Wilbur takes the patch and puts it in his front pocket.

"It's the only way you'll be able to see," Magena explains.

"See what," asks Wilbur?

"Wilbur! Time to go!"

The teens hear Cornelius call from the 20s speaker hanging in a corner of the ceiling. Magena tells Wilbur that he'll have his proof when he leaves, so they leave the room and go on their way to the main hall.

* * *

In the main hall, the Robinsons are getting ready to leave while the duke and duchess wait to give their farewells.

"Thank you so much for having us," delightfully says Franny.

"Of course, Baruch responds. "Happy to have you."

"Hopefully, we'll meet again soon," says Cornelius.

"Indeed," Via agrees, mostly lying.

Wilbur and Magena walk down the main stairs, but Magena stops Wilbur in the middle of the stairway by grabbing by the arm.

"Okay," she says, "When you leave, tell your parents you have to come back for something. When you do, go look through that window."

She points to the right-hand side of the room, where the only uncovered window is.

"You'll see the proof there."

"Right," Wilbur says, skeptical.

Magena lets go of his arm and they walk to the bottom of the stairs. Wilbur joins his family on the way out the door and Ria closes the door behind them. When the Robinsons are already halfway home, Wilbur decides to take the plan into motion.

"Oh, I just remembered," he says "I forgot my jacket inside. You guys go without me."

"Alright," Franny says, "but hurry up."

Wilbur speed walks to the mansion and the others head home. When he makes it outside the house, he goes to the open window, like Magena said. He crouches down and looks in at eye level to make sure the Mckales can't see him.

"Finally," says Baruch. "Now I can get outta this thing."

Even after seeing giant monster attacks and a flying girl with crazy eyes in one day, nothing could prepare Wilbur for what he was about to see. A turquoise essence flows out of Baruch, leaving his body an empty, lifeless husk. The turquoise essence changes into a humanoid shape and ultimately transforms into the ghost of Baruch Mortale. As a ghost, he looks almost exactly the same, only he's fifty percent transparent and made of turquoise ectoplasm.

"Ah, it was getting cramped in there," he says, stretching while floating in midair.

Out of nowhere, a black cloud forms around Via and when the cloud disappears, it reveals vampire bat with large violet eyes. The bat flies to Baruch and uses its talons to grab his ear. She pulls on it until it stretches at twenty inches, naturally causing Baruch pain. She lets go of the ear and Baruch rubs it to help numb the pain.

"Ow," Baruch groans! "What was that for?!"

"How could you let those people in here," Via exclaims, flying in front of ghost's face?! "Is swanking your trophy room worth risking us getting caught."

"Relax, cutey bat," cooes Baruch. "I was just being a good neighbor. Besides, they didn't suspect a thing."

Via groans at her husband's carelessness but accepts that what's done is done. She changes back to "human" form and gracefully lands on the marble floor like a cat. Baruch lowers himself next to Ria, while still levitating.

"You can at least let me know when you're about to invite someone in," says Via.

"I'll remember that for next time," Baruch responds, sweetly kissing his wife's cheek.

"See that you do," she responds, smirking. "Now, put your body back in the closet. It's almost time for dinner."

"Roger."

Baruch picks his empty body off the floor and flies through the main stairway door on his way to their room. Magena looks to the open window and sees a dumbstruck Wilbur Robinson with his eyes wide open and his jaw hanging out. When he looks at her, she gives him a little wink as if to say "told ya." And with that, he slowly walks away and goes home. Magena giggles and starts walking up the stairs to go back to her room, but before she can go any further:

"Magena," says Via, "Have you finished your chores yet?"

"I would have," Magena responds "but I'm working on a biology project."

"Really? Because I heard from the Robinson's that it's a two-person project."

"Bye."

Magena climbs the stairs and walks away through the stairway off to her room. Via is left alone to shake her head in disappointment. She hates when her daughter tries to avoid responsibility. This is no way for a future vampire duchess to behave.

 _What am I going to do with her?_


	5. Espionage

The next day, Wilbur and Magena are in his room. Much like the rest of the Robinson house, the room is futuristic, only with some Wilbur Robinson flare. The center of the room has a large charge ball logo on the floor. Just above it, there's a giant rotating anti-gravity solar system a few feet below the glass ceiling. One side of the room has the largest widescreen tv in the world where Wilbur plays charge ball. Next to that is the chargeball trophy shelf (kid has a one track mind). On the floor next to the logo, there's a levitation platform that levitates to the second floor. The only thing on the second floor is the hovercraft bed.

The boy and girl are sitting side by side in the bean bag couches, with a forty foot wide window behind them, brainstorming ideas for their project.

"How about we take one of your plants and show it off to the class," suggests Wilbur?

"No, it would just eat everybody," Magena points out.

"Oh."

"Why don't we do a lemon-powered light bulb or something," she half-heartedly suggests?

"That's way too cliched. We'd get a C- at best."

"I can live with that."

"Hey, you two."

Franny walks into the room holding a bowl of dark chocolate and berries and hands it to Magena.

"I thought you could use some brain food," she says. "This'll get the gears turning."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Yeah, thanks."

Franny keeps standing in front of the teens for ten seconds and stares at them with an over-eager smile.

"... Uh mom," Wilbur asserts.

"Oh, sorry," awkwardly says Franny. "Carry on."

Franny walks away and leaves the room. Magena and Wilbur start brainstorming again until they hear voices whispering. They look and see every member of the Robinson family peeking through the doorway. Wilbur is frustrated with his family butting into his business

"Guys," he scolds!" "Come on!"

Carl enters the scene from down the hall and uses his extendo arms to push everyone away from the door.

"Move along," he says. "Nothing to see here. Just a couple lovebirds having a moment."

Everybody groans in disappointment as they are forced to go away. Afterward, Carl extends head to the door.

"Don't worry, Casanova. I gotcha."

With that, he reels his head back to his body and leaves. Wilbur's annoyed that even Carl misinterprets the situation. Though, he really shouldn't be surprised. This is the first time he's ever brought a girl home. He has dated plenty of times, but they were short-term relationships, so he never had the opportunity. It only makes sense the others would get so excited and assume that Magena must be special. And in a sense she is.

"Sorry 'bout that," says Wilbur to Magena.

"Now you know the feeling," she says. "If it's any consolation, my parents would do the opposite."

"The opposite how?"

"Well, my mom would pretend you don't exist and my dad would possess you and throw your body into a wood chipper."

"... Okay."

The teenagers sit silently as if they're trying to think of project ideas. In reality, they're just sitting there staring into space, bored out of their minds. Magena takes a chocolate and berry from the bowl and pops them into her mouth. After she chews and swallows, she looks to Wilbur and notices a faint look of depression on his face.

"Are you ok," she asks?

"Hm? Oh, yeah I'm fine. It's just… do you ever feel bored and annoyed?"

"Well, that's to be expected from high school?"

"I know, but it's not just classes. There's the drama, the bullying, the bitter teachers, the popularity contests, everything."

This moment genuinely surprises Magena. She has these exact same feelings towards high school. After having to deal with it at a young age, she is well over teenage stupidity. She just never could have guessed that the most popular boy in school would share her feelings.

"And it's not just high school either. It's this whole city."

Wilbur gets up and walks to the window, looking at the city just miles away. Magena decides to get up herself and stand beside him.

"My dad built this place to be the perfect utopian future and he made it happen. But it's boring. The crime rate is next to zero, the economy's at an all-time high, and everybody's always happy and nice to each other, but it's not real."

"That does sound like a pain."

"The only insanity I get is from my family and even that's become mundane. I used to travel through the ages in my dad's time machine and have tons of adventures."

To any other person, that last sentence would sound insane, but not to a supernatural hybrid.

"I wish I could back to doing what I do best."

"What's stopping you?"

"My dad took away the time machine two years ago. It's at Robinson Industries."

"You could sneak in and steal it?"

"I tried thousands and thousands of time. Security's way too tight. Unless..."

Wilbur gets an extraordinary idea. He realizes the answer to his problem is literally right in front of him. He grabs Magena by her arms, and pulls her up to his face, much to her shock.

'You can help me," he says excitedly!

"What are you talking about," asks Magena, pushing him away?

"With your powers and my skill, we could easily infiltrate Robinson Industries. We'll steal back the time machine and go wherever and whenever we want in time!

"We?"

"Yes! Wouldn't you want to witness history before your very eyes? You and I could experience the past and future whenever we want. The possibilities are limitless!"

Magena thinks about Wilbur's proposition. Going somewhere that isn't the present sounds promising and breaking in won't be a challenge, but she's not sure if she wants to travel the time stream with the guy who just stalked her yesterday.

"I'll tell you what. If we get in and out and not get caught, you can pick the first place we go to. Whatever period of time you want. Deal?"

Magena thinks back to what Wilbur said earlier and considers he may be right. Todayland seems perfect and perfection gets easily annoying. She wouldn't be able to stand that kind of environment for a day and she can't imagine what growing up in it was like for him. Maybe she should put up with him so they can both have fun.

"... Deal."

* * *

Late at night, at Robinson Industries, Cornelius locks the main entrance with the thumbprint scanner and then walks away, heading home. Once he walks far away enough from the building, Wilbur pops his head out of a bush and contacts Magena on his earpiece.

"Kronos to Ghostpire," says Wilbur, talking to Magena on his earpiece. "Doc Brown has vacated the premises. Do you copy?"

Magena turns herself visible and stands next to the R of the building, with one hand on her hip and the other to the earpiece Wilbur gave her.

"I don't remember assigning codenames," she says. "Also, Ghostpire?"

"It was either that or Vampost."

"How'bout we just use the names we were born with?"

"I'm trying to get us into the zone. Now, commence phase one of Operation: Hour Glass."

"Do you have to give everything a name?"

"Just get in there."

Magena turns herself intangible. She phases through the surface she stood on and enters the building. She keeps herself invisible to stay hidden from the cameras around her. She finds herself on the first floor, where the reception desk is. Back outside, Wilbur puts Carl on the line.

"Kronos to Terminator," he says, "pass on the instructions for phase one to Ghostpire."

"Ten-four," Carl responds.

Back at Robinson manor, Carl stands by in the garage. He pops out a map of R.I. from his chest. While reading it, he gives Magena her instructions.

"Okay, there isn't any surveillance in sub-level five, where the time machines are. So, you only have to disable the cameras on the first floor."

"Got it."

Magena flies around and cuts the wires of the cameras with her claws. Afterward, she goes to the main entrance and opens the door. She peeks out the doorway and looks at the bush where Wilbur hides. She signals him to come inside. He picks up the bush and scurries towards the door while Magena watches in confusion. He makes it to the door, pops out of the bus, and enters the building before Magena closes the door.

"Phase one complete," Wilbur says. "Onto phase two."

"Let's get this over with," says Magena.

Wilbur and Magena walk down the hall to a nearby open elevator. Once inside, Wilbur pushes a button and the doors close.

* * *

The elevator stops at sub-level five and the doors open. The teens walk through a long empty hallway.

"Kronos to Terminator," says Wilbur to his earpiece, "Ghostpire and I have reached sub-level five. Anything we should know about?"

"Yeah, there should be a field of lasers ten feet behind you."

"Copy that."

After walking ten feet, the cowlick boy digs into his backpack and pulls out a spray can. He sprays the air, revealing a hallway full of lasers. He puts the spray can away and readies himself for getting across. He stretches his arms in the air and rocks his body side to side. He puts his hands on his hips and stretches backward. Then, he bends over and stretches his arms to his feet. Magena begins to get frustrated with Wilbur wasting time.

"Just go already," she demands!

Suddenly, Wilbur enters Mission Impossible mode. He crawls, flips, cartwheels, and somersaults his way through the field until he makes it to the other side.

"And that's how it's done," he boasts.

Magena keeps a straight face and turns herself intangible. She floats through the beams with ease. Once she reaches the other side, she turns tangible again and casually walks past Wilbur while he watches her with one eye twitching.

"That was cheating," he bitterly says, following her.

* * *

The two are halfway to their destination when Carl calls them back.

"You guys be careful," he says, "the area you're in is crawling with defense droids."

As anticipated, thirteen golden droids approach the teens. The droids are all hovering orbs with three blue scanners and laser rays on each side. One of the droids scans Magena and Wilbur, much to their concern.

 **"Scanning scanning! Unauthorized personnel in the vicinity! Must eliminate!"**

The droids' scanners glow red and they ready their laser rays. Wilbur ducks and Magena levitates, both to avoid the blasts. While trying to evade the lasers, Wilbur pulls out his disassembler gun from his bag. He uses it to shoot the droids, making them fall apart. Once he does, a dozen more droids fly towards the boy and girl. To elude any further struggle, Magena flies around rapidly while blasting the droids with her ecto orbs. After the two catch their breath, the continue forward.

* * *

They come across a locked mechanical door at the end of the hall.

"Well kids," says Carl on the other end, "this is it. The time machines are on the other side of that door."

The two see that the door can only be unlocked by a DNA scanner beside the door.

"Think you can phase through that," asks Wilbur?

"Does your mom have access to the building," answers Magena with a question?

"Yeah. Why?"

The pale girl plucks a strand of hair out of Wilbur's head, which causes him brief pain. She figures Wilbur's NDA is fifty percent his father and fifty percent his mother, so by that logic, this should work. She presents the hair to the scanner and waits for it to finish scanning. As she thought, the scanner accepts the DNA and grants them access. At last, the teens see the two time machines on a tall platform, protected by a transparent dome. They walk up the stairs leading to the top and come several feet away from the dome.

"I got this," Wilbur says.

He pulls out his disassembler again and shoots the dome only to have the blast bounce off the dome. Before it could hit the teens, they both duck and the blast flies past them, evaporating in the air.

"Guess you don't," Magena mocks.

Magena walks over to the dome and readies to give it a sucker punch. When she does, the dome is so indestructible, that her punch has no effect and her fist hurts from hitting the dome. She flails her hand, trying to shake off the pain.

"See, not as easy as it looks," teases Wilbur.

"... Maybe I should put myself in your shoes," Magena retorts, smirking.

"Exactly... wait."

Before Wilbur can finish that thought, Magena flies to him and possesses him. She takes a moment to look at her temporary body. She's very disturbed because this is her first time possessing a boy.

I'm gonna need serious therapy after this.

She shakes her troubled state and uses Wilbur's body to turn intangible and phase through the dome, so they can both get through. Magena then leaves Wilbur's body, releases him from her possession. Wilbur hyperventilates from that traumatizing experience.

"Don't ever do that again!"

"Then don't test me."

Wilbur suddenly gets over his aggravation and becomes excited that after all these years, he finally sees the time machines again.

"We should probably take both, just in case," Wilbur suggests.

"Yeah," Magena conquers. "I wouldn't want to make this trip again."

"You drive that one. I'll take this one."

"But how do we get them out of here."

"You'll see."

Wilbur runs to the blue, modern time machine and hops in. Magena walks to the red, retro time machine and presses the button to open the hatch. When it opens, she climbs in and sits in the front seat. She stares at the zany-looking controls, not knowing what she's supposed to do.

"Okay," exclaims Wilbur, "pull the lever in the middle and punch in the following combination on the keypad; 0,8,3,6."

Magena follows his instructions and before she knows it, the time machine activates, forms a large bubble around itself, and teleports away from the scene. After that, Wilbur does the same and he himself gets teleported away along with the other time machine.

In the Robinson garage, Carl relaxes in a chair, folds a newspaper, and turns it into an origami chicken. Just a few feet away from him, a couple of blue bright lights flash, causing him to fall off his seat and drop his chicken. The lights disappear to reveal the two time machines with Wilbur and Magena in them.

"At least give a warning before you do that," he complains.

"I know the feeling," Wilbur says while looking at Magena.

Magena rolls her eyes at him being a baby.

"So, now what," Carl asks?

"Well, I promised Mn'M a trip to the time period of her choice, and that's what we're gonna do."

"First off, don't call me that. Second, I'm exhausted from breaking and entering. I'm gonna go home and come back tomorrow."

Magena walks away and heads out the door.

"Suit yourself," says Wilbur. "Meanwhile, I'm off to ancient-"

Wilbur falls flat on his face and becomes unconscious. It becomes clear that he's exhausted, too. Carl looks down at his snoring buddy and amusingly shakes his head. The robot picks up the boy and carries him to the travel tube, so he can tuck him into bed.


	6. Ahoy!

The next morning, Wilbur, Magena, and Carl are in the backyard with the blue time machine, getting ready for the long-awaited travel through time.

"Okay folks, we're clear for takeoff," announces Carl! "In the event of an emergency, keep your hands between your knees and pray for dear life!"

"I feel safer already," says Magena, sarcastic.

"Well Magena," says Wilbur, "it's your call. Where and when are we going?"

"Hmm. It's a little hard to decide. There are plenty of interesting eras in history."

"I thought you might say that. Which is why it's time for…"

Carl pops a mini game show wheel out of his chest and a flashing sign out of his head that says...

"WHEEL! OF! WARPAGE!"

Wilbur grins while Magena stares, very disturbed and confused by what is happening.

"Step right up, Miss Mortale," Carl says, "and pull this lever to see you get to go in human history!"

Hesitant, Magena walks up to Carl and pulls his arm, being used the lever, and the wheel starts spinning. Everyone waits while the wheel spins rapidly. Eventually, the wheel slows down. The dial passes by Ancient Rome, World War II, and the Renaissance until it finally lands on…

"Piracy!"

Confetti explodes out of Carl's head and flies everywhere. Some of it lands and Magena's head, but she sweeps it off.

"Piracy it is," she blankly says.

"Than what're we waiting for," says Wilbur? "Let's take off!"

He grabs Magena's wrist and swiftly drags her into the time machine. Wilbur starts up the machine and Magena just sits beside him. Before liftoff, Wilbur salutes Carl and lifts Magena's hand to make her salute, too. Carl salutes back and ultimately, the kids take off. The machine soars through the sky as forms a bubble and disappears.

* * *

The time machine reappears four hundred years in the past, hovering over the Atlantic Ocean. So far, the boy and girl can only see water around them.

"Shouldn't there be a ship out here or something," Magena asks?

Out of nowhere, the teens spot a large wooden ship a mile away from them.

"Thar she blows," states Wilbur.

Wilbur flies the time machine further and further towards the ship. Properly close enough, Wilbur presses a button on the control panel, which makes the machine release a suction cupped rope that sticks to the side of the ship.

"All hands on deck," declares Magena.

"Not yet," says Wilbur. "First, we need to get our sea legs on."

"What does that-"

Wilbur presses another button that makes two pairs of robotic arms pop out and dress the teens up as pirates. Wilbur sports a red strand of cloth tied around his head along with an eyepatch covering his left eye. He wears a loose-fitting white shirt with black leather cuffs wrapped around the sleeves. Over the shirt is a black vest and a large belt around it. He has red and black striped pants and black boots. Magena fashions a dignified pirate hat. She wears a loose-fitting light tan blouse wrapped in a corset. She has black tights and brown heeled boots. Once dressed, Wilbur presses a button to turn the machine invisible and opens the hatch. The kids step out and hop on deck. They look around and see that nobody's onboard.

"Where's the crew," asks Wilbur?

Suddenly, Magena hears faint noises coming from underneath the main deck. The noises almost sound like cheering and yelling.

"Sounds like they're down below," she says.

The two walk forward and find the hatch the leads to the lower deck. Wilbur lifts it open and lets Magena go in first. He follows her and climbs down the stair ladder.

* * *

The kids climb to the bottom and enter the berth deck, where they find a bunch of pirates partying. The most of the pirates are drinking hard out of their wooden mugs. Some of them dance in the middle of the room. A few pirates play instruments in the background, while everyone else sings sea shanties. One guy is chugging down grog straight from a barrel.

Wilbur and Magena watch the scene from afar and are both delighted to see real live pirates.

"Avast, me hearties," announces Wilbur!

All the pirates cease their partying and turn to look at the children.

"Mind sparin' some rum for a couple 'landlubbers?!"

Before they knew it, the two are completely surrounded by angry pirates holding swords to their faces. Needless to say, the kids are alarmed.

"Either they don't like intruders," suggests Magena, "or they don't appreciate stereotypes."

"On the contrary."

The teens hear a subtle growl from a gruff-sounding man. Some of the pirates move aside to make way for the man, who slowly but menacingly walks towards the young invaders. The man looks in his mid-thirties with long black hair and an anchor beard. He wears an eyepatch and traditional blue captain's clothing. He looks down at the teens with a smug, threatening grin.

"We very much enjoy the company of stowaways," he says with an English accent. "We often invite them to join in our favorite activities."

"Like treasure hunting," asks Wilbur?

"Not quite," the captain responds.

Four of the pirates grab Wilbur and Magena by their arms. The captain starts circling his

"guests," trying to be as devious as possible.

"One of our activities involves something we like to call… flogging. It's where we tie you up and whip you with this."

The captain pulls a cat o' nine tails out of his belt and presents it to the children, who can only imagine how much that would hurt.

"Once we are done whipping, we will cover your wounds with salt and vinegar, which will add to the pain. Afterwards, we will lock both in the brig and maroon you on Snake Island."

"That's quite the system you got," states Magena.

"I am a creative type," responds the captain. "Now, who wants to go first?"

"Excuse me!"

Everybody hears the yell of an angry Irish woman. They all turn and see where the yell came from. They see a tall red-haired woman, wearing men's clothes much too big for her. She places her fists on her hips and looks at the captain with irritation.

"Did you think you could kill stowaways without me," she says?!

"Apologies, darling," says the captain. "But the crew couldn't wait to give these children the proper welcome."

"Well, I wouldn't blame them. It is our favorite pastime."

"That's what I told them. Care to join us?"

"That goes without saying."

Wilbur tries pulling his arms away from the pirates' grasp, but to no avail. Magena, however, gets out easily. She grabs one of the guys that grabbed her and swing him around, hitting the pirates surrounding her. She then throws him at one of the pirates holding Wilbur. This gives him the opportunity to karate chop the other guy in the throat. The other pirates start charging for an attack, but the teens run away. They run to one the hammocks and climb up to avoid their attackers. The pirates swing their swords at them, so the kids keep their backs to the wooden wall. Magena prepares to shoot them with an ectoblast, but Wilbur holds her hands to stop her.

"Wait," he says. "We've gotta do this the old-fashioned way."

"Why?"

"It's more exciting."

Wilbur jumps off the hammock and lands on a pirate. He takes a sword away fights his opponents with it. Magena thinks his method is ridiculous, but she decides to go along with it anyway. She figures that she can use her powers if things get out of hand. She grabs a sword from an unconscious pirate and fences with everyone in her path. Even the captain and his wife join in the fight. They and his crew try to best the teens, but the two keep fighting on.

* * *

Eventually, the battle is taken outside. Wilbur has the time of his life fighting the captain, appropriately enough on the fighting top. On the forecastle deck, five pirates take turns dueling swords with Magena, until she beats them one by one.

Wilbur twirls the captain's sword out of his hand, which send it falling to the deck. Wilbur points his sword at the captain and laughs victoriously.

"Hey Magena," he shouts!

Magena ignores Wilbur and keeps sword fighting.

"I bested this scurvy dog at his own game!"

Little does the boastful Wilbur Robinson know the captain's wife has climbed the rope ladder up to the fighting top. She lifts her sword and places it across Wilbur's throat.

"Drop the sword," she demands!

"I could," Wilbur responds sarcastically, "or I could just swing it at y-"

Wilbur realizes his hand is empty. He looks at the captain, who reveals to have taken the boy's sword when he wasn't looking.

"Shoulda dropped it when you could, noodle neck," the wife brags.

Ten minutes later, Magena catches her breath after taking down two-thirds of the crew. She hears a mountain of laughter. She looks and sees the remaining crew members cheering about something going on above. Magena looks up to see Wilbur hanging upside down by a rope tied around his feet. She runs to the main deck and sees the captain laughing along with his crew while he stands with his wife, who is pulling the rope.

"Wilbur," shouts Magena! "I'll get you down!"

"Don't worry about me," says Wilbur! "I'll get out of this!"

Wilbur wiggles around, trying to break free from the extra rope binding his wrists. Magena watches in silence, almost embarrassed for her acquaintance.

"You need not bother," gloats the captain. "Your lover boy up there will free soon enough, once he falls from his severed feet."

"He's not my lover boy and you better let him go in one piece," she commands!

"Oh? And why should we?"

Magena tries thinking of how she can save Wilbur from foot decapitation. She suddenly gets an idea that will save him and mess with the pirates.

"Because," she says, "... I am the ghost of the Lady Lovibond!"

"... What," asks the captain, confused?

"Yes. I rise from my watery grave every fifty years to avenge my sunken ship by sinking every ship in the seven seas. And if you don't let me and my cabin boy go-"

"Cabin boy," Wilbur huffs?!

"Shut up- I will send this entire ship to Davy Jones's locker!"

The moronic crew buys her story and become concerned. However, the captain and his wife are skeptical.

"But not us, right," asks a random naive pirate?

Magena points her black claws at his nose, possibly making him wet himself.

"Not unless you hog heads can walk on water," she says.

"Well that's an adorable story," smugly says the captain's wife, "but we have some torturing to do."

"Indeed," the captain agrees. "Darling, if you'd please."

The red-haired wench ties up her end of the rope. She then starts climbing the rope ladder to the middle of the mast. She pulls out her sword and prepares to cut Wilbur's feet. Wilbur tries harder to pry his hands out of the rope, but he fails to do so. Magena briefly panics, but suddenly becomes enraged. Everyone on the ship notices her rise from the deck and float in the air. The pirates watch in astonishment. Her eyes start to glow and she generates an ectoplasmic orb from her hands. She blasts the orb at the mast. The mast tumbles over, which Wilbur and the captain's wife scream at the top of his lungs. The captain watches in terror as his wife nearly to the deck. Before that can happen, though, Magena flies up and stops the mast with only one hand. She then slowly brings the mast down and gently lets it go. Wilbur hangs ten feet over the shark-infested water, praying his legs don't rip off of his feet. The captain's wife crawls across mast and jumps off. She runs to her husband, who comforts her in his arms. Magena lands on the fallen mast and stares down at the pirates. They all cower at the angry, ominous glow in her eyes.

"On second thought," quivers the captain, "you two are free to go."

"Thanks," Magena sarcastically says.

She pulls the mast towards the deck, which makes Wilbur bump his head on the railing. A couple pirates come over to untie him. After he's set free, Magena jumps off the mast and lands on the other side of the mast.

"Let's go, cabin boy," she shouts!

Wilbur climbs over the mast and follows her to the time machine. When they hop inside it, Wilbur pulls the lever and enters the code that sends the machine flying. All the pirates marvel at the metal flying machine forming a bubble and disappearing.

* * *

The time machine arrives back to the present and lands in front of the Robinson garage. Wilbur opens the hatch, then he and Magena jump out to push the machine toward the garage door. A tiny door opens in the middle of the door and a deep, mighty voice speaks through it.

"Who dares to disturb my sanctuary-"

"You know it's us, Carl," says Wilbur, annoyed. "Just let us in."

"None may enter unless they speak the royal password."

"We've been over this already. We don't have or need a password. Now cut the act and open the door."

"You should talk," mocks Magena.

"Oh alright," says Carl, normally.

The tiny door closes and the garage door opens, so Wilbur and Magena push the time machine into the garage.

"Welcome back, maties," Carl says. "How did pirating go?"

"Stimulating and hilarious," says Magena.

"Yeah, a hoot," sarcastically says Wilbur, pulling a dark sheet over the time machine to hide it.

"What's with you," Carl asks?

"He's upset because pirates hung him by his feet and I had to get him down."

Carl tries his best to hold back the laughter inside him. He always knew something like this would happen someday. Wilbur has always been stubborn and reckless, especially when going on adventures. Every time Carl warns him about the impending danger, he never listens and almost gets himself killed.

"I could've gotten down myself," Wilbur exclaims!

"Before or after losing your feet," Magena snarks.

That comment forces Carl to set free his howling laughter. Embarrassed, Wilbur decides to throw his hat into the snark ring (ding ding).

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have gotten caught if somebody had had my back!"

"I was busy fighting a band of pirates! You wouldn't have been captured if you weren't busy showing off!"

"And you saying you're 'the ghost of Lady Lovibond' was a smart idea?"

"At least I was coming up with ideas! You were just squirming around like a hooked fish!"

"Was almost letting me fall to my death part of your plan?!"

"I knew what I was doing! I wouldn't expect you to know anything about thinking ahead!"

During this heated argument, Carl just stands there in awkward silence listening to the bickering teens.

"You know what?! Maybe you shouldn't come time traveling again!"

"You can't be serious! I helped you get those rust buckets back and now you're banning me from them?!"

"My ships, my rules!"

"They're not even your ships!"

"Whatever! You're out!"

"Fine. Whatever keeps me from wasting my time with a cocky idiot!"

"Great! Then I won't have my life constantly threatened by a bad-tempered halfer!"

Magena stops walking away and just stands there in silence. The males can't see, but right now, her eyes are trembling and her heart her heart is hurting. All she can do is stand there and look down at the floor, with that one word loudly echoing in her mind.

 _Halfer._

Suddenly, Wilbur canfaintly hear Magena whimpering. From behind, he can see her hugging her herself and shaking. Wilbur feels unbearably guilty. He didn't expect someone like her to be emotional. He walks towards Magena and attempts to put his hand on her shoulder.

"Magena, I'm really-"

Without looking, Magena quickly aggressively grabs Wilbur's wrist, much to his fear. It only intensifies when she slowly turns her head and shows a pair glowing, frightening eyes and a clenching jaw.

 ** _"What did I say about testing me?!"_**

Now, Wilbur really regrets his words and Carl shakes in fear of what the monster girl will do to his little buddy. Before Wilbur can speak, Magena turns invisible. He wonders what's about to happen when he feels himself getting punched in the gut. He (invisibly) gets hooked in the jaw, hit on the head, and literally kicked in the butt. Then, his body is lifted up, making it looked like he's floating in mid-air. He gets spun around in circles and tossed across the room. Magena finally turns visible and storms out of the garage in a huff, with water in her eyes. After witnessing the horrific display, Carl watches a dizzy Wilbur Robinson sit on the floor and slowly spin his head around, delirious from the horrendous beating.

"Look at all the flying gremlins," he says, woozy.

"Don't worry, buddy," says Carl, running up Wilbur. "Doctor Carl will bring you back to health."

Carl picks up Wilbur, takes his arm, around places it around his own shoulder. He walks Wilbur to the travel tube to transport them to his room.


	7. I'm Sorry!

Everything is black for a few minutes when Wilbur slowly opens his eyes and finds himself in his room, laying in his hovercraft bed with an ice pack on his head. He suddenly gains a headache, so he holds the ice pack and squishes it onto his head. He sits up as he hears the levitation platform coming up and he looks to see Carl reaching the second floor, holding a bowl of hot soup.

"How're you feeling, champ," he asks?

"Like I had a building fall on me," Wilbur groans.

"Then you're might need this."

Carl walks over and places the soup on Wilbur's lap. Wilbur grabs the spoon and takes a sip.

"That girl is a psychopath," he says.

"You did kinda push her, though," Carly retorts.

"Was that a proportionate response?"

"No, but neither was getting angry over your own mistake."

"I would have made it out on my own."

"Didn't sound like it to me."

"I was rusty, alright? I haven't done this in two years. Besides, I was wearing an eyepatch, it threw me off."

Wilbur heavily sighs in frustration. Carl thinks about what could be bothering Wilbur. It couldn't just be messing up on a time adventure because he's done that many times. Immediately, a theory comes to mind.

"You know what I think," he grins?

"What's that," Wilbur asks?

"I think you're not as sore about having to be saved as you are embarrassing yourself in front of Magena."

Wilbur widens his eyes in surprise. He realizes a disadvantage of having a friend who knows you; when they easily figure you out.

"W.. Why would I care about that?"

"Admit it, junior. You like her."

"No, I don't."

"You devoted a lot of time to her the past couple days and you've never invited anyone to one of your trips before-"

Wilbur covers his ears and loudly sings the "Hampsterdance" song to avoid the conversation. This lasts for twenty seconds until he looks at Carl, who gives him a look that says "Own up to it." Wilbur gives another heavy sigh before finally saying

"Alright. Maybe I have a certain measure of admiration for her."

"Well, she does seem like your type," says Carl. "Attractive, smart, unconventional."

"It doesn't matter. She passionately hates me."

"You could try apologizing."

"And then what?"

"I'm thinking with a girl like that, you need to take things slow. Gain her trust and wait for her to be comfortable enough to start a relationship."

"What if she refuses to trust me?"

"Hasn't stopped you before."

Wilbur considers Carl's point. He's always followed his father's example of "Keep Moving Forward." Thus, whenever he has a goal, whether it be time traveling or avoiding trouble with school and/or parents, he never gives up until he achieves it. Perhaps, winning over an edgy, supernatural girl shouldn't be any different.

"You're right," says Wilbur. "I've gotta go."

Wilbur leaps out of bed and grabs his hoverboard next to his bed. He jumps off the second floor, somersaults onto the first floor and zooms out the door. Carl looks in that direction, smiling with pride for his little buddy. But, he turns around and realizes Wilbur spilled the soup all over the bed. Carl groans, knowing that he has to clean it up because Wilbur certainly won't.

* * *

Magena enters her home, still fuming from before. She sees that the hall is completely empty and assumes her parents must be working in their office.

"Mom! Dad! I'm back from the doctor! Hope you're ready to be grandparents!

She puts a hand to her ear only to hear no response.

 _Like I expected any different._

* * *

Later that night, Magena is in her room. She wears grey camisole and shorts pajamas but still has her makeup and necklace on. She holds a jar of ants she got from Lizzy's Pet Shop and plans to feed them to her spider.

"Sorry to do this guys," she says to the ants, "but it's the circle of life. Nothing personal."

She opens the jar and pours the ants into the spider web. After feeding Brody, she grabs her mutant spider guitar. She sits on her mattress with her ankle resting on her knee and adjusts the strings. She starts to think about her dispute with Wilbur. Just when she thought he was different and even interesting, he takes his bruised ego out on her. She even almost cried over him. She would have never forgiven herself if she did. She decides to take her mind off it by playing a song. She strums her guitar, closes her eyes, and begins to sing.

 _"You seem to replace_

 _Your brain with your heart_

 _You take things so hard_

 _And then you fall apart_

 _You try to explain_

 _But before you can start_

 _Those crybaby tears_

 _Come out of the dark"_

Without her knowing it, Wilbur flies up to Magena's center window on his hoverboard. He attempts to throw a hand-sized rock at her window. But, he sees her sitting almost right on the other side. He thinks to himself that the rock would kill her or worse (anger her). With that, he drops the rock which accidentally hits a squirrel. Wilbur also notices Magena playing guitar and singing. His nosey instincts kick in and he gets the idea to turn on his earpiece in order to hear her. Luckily for him, she still has hers on, so he can hear her perfectly.

 _"Someone's turning the handle_

 _To that faucet in your eyes_

 _You pour it out_

 _Where everyone can see_

 _Your heart's too big for your body_

 _That's why it won't fit inside_

 _You pour it out_

 _Where everyone can see_

 _They call you crybaby, crybaby_

 _But you don't even care_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _So you laugh through your tears_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _'Cause you don't even care_

 _Tears fall to the ground_

 _You'll just let them drown_

 _You'll just let them drown_

 _Crybaby, crybaby"_

As Magena sings, Wilbur listens to every word and note, and he can't believe what he hears. Her voice is so morose yet gorgeous, it's as if she had a vocal chords transplant with Pat Benatar. And the lyrics are so sad and miserable, he wonders if she's singing her feelings. He can feel the emotional pain in her voice. It makes him faintly emotional himself.

 _"You're all on your own_

 _And you lost all your friends_

 _You told yourself that it's not you, it's them_

 _You're one of a kind_

 _And no one understands_

 _But those crybaby tears keep coming back again_

 _Someone's turning the handle_

 _To that faucet in your eyes_

 _You pour it out_

 _Where everyone can see_

 _Your heart's too big for your body_

 _That's why it won't fit inside_

 _You pour it out_

 _Where everyone can see_

 _They call you crybaby, crybaby_

 _But you don't even care_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _So you laugh through your tears_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _'Cause you don't even care_

 _Tears fall to the ground_

 _You'll just let them drown_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _You'll just let them drown_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _You'll just let them drown"_

While singing, Magena gets so lost in her song, she rises from her mattress and floats in mid-air without realizing it. She levitates around the room as she strums the metallic strings of her guitar. She even becomes intangible without will and phases through the wall. Wilbur watches Magena float in the sky while she plays. He's spellbound by the glow of the full moon shining over her and the mood it adds to the song.

 _"I look at you and I see myself_

 _And I know you better than anyone else_

 _And I have the same faucet in my eyes_

 _So your tears are mine_

 _They call me crybaby, crybaby_

 _But I don't even care_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _I laugh through my tears_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _'Cause I don't even care_

 _Tears fall to the ground_

 _I'll just let them drown_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _I'll just let them drown_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _You'll just let them drown_

 _Cry aby, crybaby_

 _I'll just let them drown_

 _Crybaby, crybaby_

 _You'll just let them drown"_

When Magena finishes singing, Wilbur snaps out of his trance.

"So is that just a hobby," he asks, "or do you plan to make a career out of it?"

Magena turns around in shock of her uninvited audience. She would bite off his nose for prying into her personal life, but she's surprisingly used to it by now.

"I'm not even gonna bother," groans Magena.

She floats her way back to her room, but Wilbur hovers in front of her.

"Wait," he says! "I wanna to talk."

"Funny. That's the last thing I want to do."

Magena phases through Wilbur and the wall into her room.

'I just wanted to apologize! Also, I liked your music."

After a few seconds, Magena phases back outside and gives a defeated sigh.

"Let's hear it," she says.

Both Wilbur and Magena hover down to the ground. Wilbur hops off his board and Magena leans on the wooden outer wall to get comfortable for Wilbur's apology.

"The pirate incident is on me," he says. "And you were right. You did me a huge favor yesterday and I should have been more appreciative. It's just that I don't usually bring anyone on my time travel exploits. I've never met anyone worth sharing that experience with. So, I don't know how to cooperate with a partner."

Magena begins to blush a little. She's flattered that Wilbur sees her that way. Also, she can see that he genuinely regrets his actions. She' aware that she has similar problems, so she could be more understanding.

"Well," responds Magena, "I don't cooperate with anybody, myself. So, I can't entirely fault you on that."

"So, you forgive me?"

"Sure."

"Cool. So listen, I know I haven't made the best first impression, what with constantly getting on your case. But, it looks like we both can't stand school and neither of us is gonna get by on our usual methods. I think if we hang out together enough, it can make the next two years more bearable. So, whatta you say? Can you handle wasting your time with a cocky idiot?"

Magena thinks about this. Wilbur is right. Her impression of him makes it difficult for her to trust him. However, he seems to be the only person she can stand to be around. He appears to be determined, confident, adventurous, and very strange. He could possibly make good company. Even if this friendship doesn't work, she could always move on. After all, she is no stranger to disappointment.

"... I've wasted my time with worse."

The teens smile in agreement and shake hands.

"On a lighter note," Wilbur says, "you've given me an idea."

"Letting me use my powers instead of sword fighting," Magena snarks?

"...That, and for our project, we'll combine your two favorite things; plants and music."

The idea sounds interesting to Magena. She may even consider applying herself for a class assignment.

 _But, no promises._

* * *

When Thursday comes, during the afternoon, Mr. Hayashi has his students present their projects. Each pair of partners displays their projects on two desks. Hayashi takes a look at one project at a time to grade them.

He finally approaches Wilbur and Magena in the back of the room to look at their project. The two each stand on one side of the project display. On one desk, there's a large potted plant with a stereo sitting on the other desk behind.

"So," says Hayashi, "What've we got here."

"Well," says Wilbur, "we decided to conduct an experiment on plant behavior to different types of music."

Wilbur reaches into his pocket and takes out the remote to the stereo.

"First, we'll demonstrate with some upbeat jazz music."

Wilbur presses the play and the stereo plays the jazz music. The music makes the leafy plant wiggles around as if dancing to the peppy music.

"Imposing," Hayashi praises. "And great choice of a music piece."

Wilbur presses pause and then hands the remote to Magena.

"Now," she says, somewhat enthused, "we'll demonstrate with some heavy power metal."

"... Okay," Hayashi says, awkwardly.

Magena presses the volume button and raises the volume up to maximum.

"Should you be turning the volume up that high," concernedly asks Hayashi?

"This is necessary to the demonstration," Magena explains.

Wilbur reaches into his pocket again, pulls out a pair of earplugs, and puts them into his ears. Magena holds onto the pot with one hand and uses the other hand to press the play next button. Before anyone knows it, the entire room fills with loud guitar music, chaotic drumming, and psychotic shouting. The music is so loud, it literally blows everyone away. Hayashi holds onto the potted plant for dear life. The other students are blown to the front of the room. One kid gets hit in the face with a watermelon, used for one of the projects. Wilbur and Magena's plant aggressively shakes back and forth like an intense rocker. The windows in the room shatter from the deafening music. Magena finally stops the music and lets everyone fall to the ground. The painful groans of her peers make her smile like a sociopath.

"Was that actually necessary," asks Wilbur, taking off his earplugs?

"It was for my amusement," bluntly responds Magena.

While no one is looking, the head of Spike pops out of the pot with the plant on top.

"So, where's my payment," he asks?

Magena digs into her monster skull bag and takes out a roll of toilet paper.

"I can only imagine how much you need this," she comments.

She hands the toilet paper to Spike by placing it in his mouth. He says "much obliged" through his teeth, but he's incoherent. He pops back into the pot with his toilet paper before anyone can see him. Mr. Hayashi crawls back to Wilbur and Magena to give them their grade.

"A minus," he moans.

He lets his head slam onto the floor, so he can recuperate.

"A minus isn't bad," Wilbur comments.

"I know I'm satisfied," retorts Magena.

"By the way, you never told me where that fish thing came from."

"Well, my dad tried making tuna salad muffins for breakfast that day. Didn't go well."

Magena talks about that morning Baruch baked breakfast for her. It was his way of trying to be a better parent, but it didn't impress Magena. Still, she couldn't refuse breakfast made for her. Unfortunately, he has no cooking experience, so the muffins made her sick. She got stuck in the bathroom for nearly an hour, almost making her late for school, not that she would care. Upon hearing this, Wilbur is somewhat disgusted by the description but is happy to finally get an explanation.

The two teens have a feeling that this newfound friendship may actually work out the way they want. Only time will tell if they are right.

* * *

 **The song in this chapter was Melanie Martinez's Crybaby (clean version). And the science project scene was inspired by the youtube video, Vinyl Fair by ShadesofEverfree.**


End file.
